Vodafone’s HTC Desire Getting Android 2.2 Update on August 23

Vodafone has announced that they will be rolling out the Android 2.2 (Froyo) update for the HTC Desire from August 23. The update was initially expected to be rolled out on August 12. However, the good news is that Vodafone has removed most of their bloatware/crapware from their Android 2.2 update. Earlier, Vodafone was heavily criticized for loading the Desire with their Vodafone 360 crapware. Now, along with the announcement of the Android 2.2 update, the company has also mentioned the steps on how to remove Vodafone 360 for users who have already installed it.

According to the news from Vodafone forums, the Android 2.2 update will be based on the HTC open market visionwith the software optimized for Vodafone’s network settings.

Here is the full press release :

HTC Desire: Firmware Over The Air (FOTA) Update to Android 2.2

The Android 2.2 update for HTC Desire will start to be available to Vodafone customers from Monday 23 August.

Our priority has been to make sure that the software does what we said it will do. This meant testing took a little longer than anticipated.

Customers will receive an alert telling them that their handset is ready for an update and this alert will be phased over a two week period.

If you did not download the Vodafone 360 update, follow the first set of instructions below to download the Android 2.2 update when prompted to.

If you did download the Vodafone 360 software, once you have the 2.2 update, these guidelines also explain what you need to do to remove that content from your device, depending on the current software configuration of your HTC Desire.

Customers who still want to use Vodafone 360 services can visit the Android Marketplace, where a number of 360 apps are available. We will also be issuing an optional Vodafone 360 update for HTC Desire users at a later date.

*Please note: The following steps will only work once you have downloaded the 2.2 Android update*

Finding out which software your HTC Desire is running

To check the current software version of your HTC Desire, go to Settings->About phone->Software information and look for the entries Android versionand Software number.

Your software should either be 1.19.161.5 if you haven’t downloaded the recent Vodafone 360 software, or 1.24.161.3 if you have accepted the update.